Alum intel iMac so slow: Why?

Question

I have a Mac (intel, alum iMac, 2.4ghz with 1 gig of ram) and it is painfully slow. When I compare it to my older Dell Vista machine (albeit with 2 gigs of ram), it is painful to use the Mac. For example, when using MS Word for the Mac, I have to watch that little ball for 3 to 10 seconds every time I want to move from file to edit or any other menu item. I have encountered similar issues when running MS Powerpoint as well. Perhaps the iMac can't play music in the background when word processing? I do notice that the iTunes player is constantly pausing songs for a few seconds while the computer thinks about the next simple word processing task I want to do.
Don't get me wrong the Mac is more elegant than a PC, and in doing something graphical it seems to be easier to use to get to a completed product, but I am wondering if the new iMacs can do basic functions (e.g., word processing, surfing the net, powerpoint) at acceptable speeds. Certainly my daughter loves using the iMac for everything. But I would like some decent speed so I am not waiting.... waiting... waiting when doing some basic word processing.
Maybe iMac users are supposed to get used to waiting for three to ten seconds whenever doing anything new, but this is much slower than Vista. And Vista really is terrible. I just can't believe that there is not some setting that will fix the iMac so I can use this thing without thinking I just fired up an old 286 IBM pc and tried to run MS Word for 2007 on it.
Any suggestions would be welcomed.
Thanks,

Answer 1

Hi Noob,
Is it possible there isn't enough free disk space? Select your MacintoshHD icon, press Command + I which will prompt a Get Info window. Where it says: General click the black arrow so it faces down. You will see: Capacity and Available. Never allow your available disk space to fall below 15%, 20% is better. You can also view this information at the very bottom of a Disk Utility window.
Also, boot from your restore disk while holding down the C key and make sure there aren't any errors on the hard disk.
My Mac runs slowly
If you find your Mac is running slowly, here are some suggestions to increase its speed:
On an Intel-based Macintosh, Universal applications may run more slowly if they have been set to open using Rosetta. To change this setting, select the application's icon and choose File > Get Info. If the "Open using Rosetta" checkbox in the General pane of the info window is selected, deselect it.
An application you're running may require more memory than your computer has. To see how much memory your computer has, choose Apple > About This Mac. Check the documentation that came with the software to find out what it requires. Check the documentation that came with your computer to find out how to increase its memory.
Quit any application that isn't compatible with your computer. For example, an application may require a different processor or graphics card. To see what processor your computer has, choose Apple > About This Mac. To see what graphics card your computer has, choose Apple > About This Mac, click More Info, and then click Graphics/Display. Check the documentation that came with the software to find out what it requires.
Your computer might not have enough free disk space on your startup disk. To make disk space available, you can move files to another disk and then delete files you no longer need on the startup disk.
Try quitting some of the applications you're not using.
Your computer may decrease the speed of the processor in order to save energy. To have the processor perform at the highest speed, open Energy Saver preferences, click Options, and choose Highest from the Processor Performance pop-up menu.
A computer that has been running for a long time can run more slowly than a computer that has just been restarted. Try restarting your computer by choosing Apple > Restart.
Carolyn